Happy Friday!  This week I had the chance to visit with the Dallas Ag Club for their monthly meeting on Monday.  On Tuesday, I moderated an immigration law panel at the High Plains Dairy Conference.  Welcome to those of you joining from those events!

Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week.

*US Supreme Court Allows US to Intervene in Texas v. New Mexico lawsuit. I’ll have a full blog post on this decision Monday, but those of you who are interested can read the unanimous Supreme Court decision here.

*Dairy farmers receive letters terminating milk contracts.  Across the Midwest and east coast, dairy farmers received unwelcome news in their mailboxes.  Dean Foods notified dairy farmers in Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee, that Dean Foods would cease buying milk from the farms after May 31.  Dean Foods says that it was a combination of surplus production and increasing demand for fluid milk and additional milk processing businesses entering the arena that led to this decision.  Some news outlets report over 100 farmers are affected.  These farmers now have 90 days to find a new purchaser for their milk.  [Read article here.]

TAMU Agrilife photo by Kay Ledbetter

* USDA announces cotton ginning cost share program for 2016 crop.  Secretary Perdue announced this week that there will be a ginning cost share program available for the 2016 cotton crop.  The program will allow producers to receive a per acre payment of 20% the average ginning cost of their region.   Sign up with FSA will run from March 12 to May 11, 2018.  [Read article here.]

*It is important to understand your rights as a Texas landowner.  An article from Lubbock offers a good reminder that Texas landowners need to ensure they understand their rights when it comes to mineral development on their land.  Landowners need to know whether they own their mineral rights and, if they do not, understand the potential ramifications of that.  [Read article here.]  For more information about surface owner rights, mineral rights, and oil and gas production in Texas, check out our handbook, Petroleum Production on Agricultural Lands in Texas.

Programs Next Week

On Wednesday at noon, I’ll be in Albany, Texas at an Ag Property Law seminar hosted by the Lower Clear form of the Brazos SWCD, Leon Bosque RC&D Council, and Stephens County Extension.  Then on Thursday evening, I’ll be speaking in Brownwood at the Brown County Ag Day.  For more info, click here.

For a complete list on my upcoming presentations, click here.